Illinois wants LeVin extradited

By Stacy St. Clair | Tribune reporterJune 06, 2011

Ryan LeVin could see some prison time after all – but not for the hit-and-run deaths of two British businessmen in South Florida.

Illinois corrections officials are seeking his extradition for a parole violation stemming from a 2006 incident in which he ran over a Chicago police officer and sparked a high-speed chase on the Kennedy Expressway. Officials say he violated the terms of his parole last year when he traveled without permission to Florida to answer the vehicular homicide charges against him.

The state will ask to the parole board to re-incarcerate LeVin for the violation, said Cara Smith, chief of staff for Illinois Department of Corrections. The amount of prison time LeVin would receive has not been calculated yet, but it likely would be less than six months.

The scion of a prominent Illinois family, LeVin was sentenced to two years of house arrest after pleading guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide last week. Though he could have received up to 45 years in prison, Broward County Judge Barbara McCarthy agreed to a lighter sentence after Levin, 36, agreed to pay the victim’s family an undisclosed financial sum.

He signed the checks in the courtroom immediately after the judge’s ruling.

LeVin admitted to being behind the wheel of his $120,000 Porsche 911 Turbo when it jumped a sidewalk and killed Craig Elford, 39, and Kenneth Watkinson, 48, as they were walking to their beachside hotel Feb. 13, 2009. LeVin initially denied driving the speeding car and pinned the blame on a friend.

He planned to serve his house arrest at one of two oceanside condominiums owned by his parents, Arthur and Shirley LeVin. The LeVins founded Schaumburg-based Jewel by Park Lane, a direct-sales juggernaut that relies on at-home sales parties and generates about $155 million in revenue annually, according to industry estimates.

The judge’s ruling also allowed for him to travel to Illinois to address the outstanding parole issue here, Smith said.

LeVin initially received for probation for the 2006 incident in Chicago and had permission from the court to travel to Fort Lauderdale in February 2009 to look after his parents’ properties. While there, he ran over the two British men and fled the scene.

Though he first denied being involved in the hit-and-run, a Cook County judge revoked his probation and sentenced him to two years in prison for failing to complete drug counseling. He was released about six months later and was on parole when he was charged with vehicular homicide in Florida.

LeVin’s attorney returned to court Monday seeking the return of his client’s Porsche, which has been impounded since the fatal crash. The judge did not immediately rule on the request.